UCC Document Community

Update us when you get it filed! Always interested to hear how equipment financings go. The $180K amount suggests this is a substantial piece of machinery - make sure your lien captures any accessories or attachments that might be added later.

As someone new to UCC filings, this thread has been incredibly educational! I'm curious about the timing aspect - how far in advance of funding should the UCC-1 be filed? And is there a grace period if you discover an error after filing, or do you need to file an amendment immediately? The emphasis on name accuracy has me wondering if there are any other common pitfalls that cause rejections beyond the debtor name issues mentioned here.

Update: New UCC-1 with Tesla Inc was accepted! Thanks everyone for the quick help. The Certana tool suggestion was really helpful too - going to use that for our next batch of filings to avoid these name issues.

This is such a common issue with corporate name changes! I've been burned by this before with other entities. For future Tesla deals, I always double-check that the borrower entity matches exactly with what's on their current Delaware Secretary of State filing. Pro tip: Tesla's subsidiaries can be tricky too - make sure you're not accidentally using Tesla Energy Operations Inc or Tesla Motors Netherlands BV if you're dealing with their main US operations. The $2.8M facility size definitely justifies expedited filing fees to minimize the perfection gap. Glad you got it sorted!

Don't stress too much - UCC searches are routine and most come back clean or with easily resolved issues. The key is getting started immediately and staying in close communication with your lender about any findings. They deal with this stuff daily and usually have processes to handle common problems quickly.

I went through this exact situation about 6 months ago with a $150k equipment loan. The UCC search came back showing an old line of credit that we thought was closed but the bank never filed the termination. Here's what saved us time: I immediately called the original lender's UCC department (not just customer service) and explained we needed an urgent UCC-3 termination for a pending closing. They were able to file it electronically the same day. Also, consider asking your current lender if they can order the search themselves - they often have relationships with search companies that can turn things around faster than if you order it directly. Most importantly, don't wait until you get the written report to start addressing any issues that come up.

Bottom line - cautionary UCC filings are a standard risk management tool in commercial lending. They protect the lender's priority position during loan negotiations. As the borrower, you should understand what's being filed, make sure it doesn't conflict with other obligations, and confirm there's a clear plan for either converting it to a final UCC-1 or terminating it. Not something to panic about, but definitely something to stay informed about throughout your loan process.

One thing I'd add is to ask your bank about their specific timeline for the cautionary filing. Some lenders file these 30-60 days before closing, while others do it much closer to the loan date. Since your equipment installation is in 30 days, you'll want to make sure the timing aligns properly with your funding needs. Also, if you're working with any equipment vendors or other creditors, give them a heads up about the filing so they're not caught off guard when they run UCC searches. Transparency goes a long way in maintaining good business relationships during the loan process.

One more tool that might help - try searching the Colorado Secretary of State's general entity search first to see all the different names and variations the company has used in their corporate filings. Sometimes companies amend their names or have multiple related entities with similar names. This can give you a comprehensive list of name variations to search in the UCC database.

This thread is incredibly helpful - I'm dealing with a similar issue in Texas and it sounds like most state UCC systems have these same name variation problems. One additional strategy I've found useful is to also search for any parent company or holding company names if the target is part of a larger corporate structure. Sometimes the UCC filings are under the parent entity name even when the subsidiary is the actual debtor. Also, if you're working with a tight deadline, consider hiring a professional UCC search company that specializes in Colorado filings - they usually have proprietary databases and search techniques that can catch variations you might miss. The cost is usually worth it for high-stakes M&A deals where missing a lien could be catastrophic.